License: free to use but not free to modify or redistribute

Question

I am releasing an application at no cost, but I am not granting users the right to modify or redistribute the code. How should I call this?

I initially used the term "free license", but on second thoughts I find this confusing because free can have several meanings, and in people's mind it is often associated with open source. Is there a better terminology for my case?

Answer 1

The term "freeware" (rather than the ambiguous "free software") is often used to indicate software that is free of charge but not necessarily supplied with other freedoms. However, freeware usually often carries the connotation of "free to distribute".

The adjective "gratis" is used by the FSF to unambiguously indicate "zero monetary cost". However, people not familiar with software licensing might find that wording unfamiliar, so it would be best to accompany it with an explicit description that your software is available "free of charge".

Answer 2

You haven't said what form you are distributing it, but as long as you are distributing as a binary, it's pretty easy - don't give them the source code. The number of people who can be bothered to modify a binary is pretty small, and the number of those who would care what your license said anyway is probably close enough to zero that you don't care.